Barcelona are in advanced talks to bring back Alexis Sanchez to the club on a loan deal from Inter Milan, with Luuk de Jong set to move the other way.
According to a report from SPORT, Barcelona are closing in on re-signing former forward Alexis Sanchez from Inter Milan in a deal which would see on-loan striker Luuk de Jong join the Serie A champions.
Sanchez spent three years on the books of Barcelona after arriving from Udinese and enjoyed a fairly decent spell. The 32-year-old made over 140 appearances for the Blaugrana scoring 46 goals in the process. However, having failed to become a regular starter, the Chilean moved on to Arsenal in the summer of 2014, where he enjoyed a lot of success.
Alexis left Arsenal in acrimonious circumstances in January 2018, signing for rivals Manchester United but endured a torrid 18-month spell at Old Trafford before eventually returning to Italy with Inter Milan in the summer of 2019. Since his move to San Siro, the veteran forward has produced a return of 13 goals and 21 assists from 84 games.
Sanchez played a role in Inter Milan’s Scudetto success under Antonio Conte last season but has found game-time hard to come by in the current campaign despite the departure of Romelu Lukaku. New manager Simone Inzaghi has afforded him just two starts in Serie A thus far, often preferring Edin Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez and Joaquin Correa over him.
Given his situation at San Siro, Sanchez had been linked with an exit in January, with Barcelona emerging as a potential suitor for the former Arsenal attacker. The Catalans have struggled with a lack of goals and injury problems in the attacking unit this season, with the likes of Ansu Fati, Ousmane Dembele, Martin Braithwaite all missing significant chunks of the campaign.
Now, with Sergio Aguero’s unfortunate retirement, Barcelona have lost another forward and need to replenish their frontline in the January transfer window. Now, it is being claimed that they are in advanced talks with Inter Milan to re-sign Alexis Sanchez on loan. As part of the deal, Luuk de Jong, who is already on loan from Sevilla, is expected to join the Italian bigwigs.
The report states that de Jong’s parent club, Sevilla, have no objections to the exchange as long as the Dutchman’s wages are paid in full. And with the 31-year-old not a part of the plans under Xavi Hernandez, he could soon find himself at San Siro.
However, it is believed that Xavi is yet to give his OK to the deal. While the Barcelona boss believes that Sanchez would improve his attacking options, his priority remains the signing of Manchester City star Ferran Torres. But given the Catalans’ restricted finances and wage budget, a move for the Spaniard will be difficult if they cannot offload a few players in January.
In that case, Xavi would be willing to sanction a move for Sanchez. As things stand, the report states that there is an agreement between Barcelona, Inter Milan and Sevilla over a deal, with the manager’s go-ahead the only thing keeping it from getting over the line. So, it will be interesting to see if Xavi changes his stance and brings back another ex-teammate after having recently re-signed Dani Alves last month.
